Manuel Mesías, as well as other community members, participated in the protests in March 2024 in rejection of the environmental consultation, led by the Ministry of the Environment, which seeks to grant the company La Plata Mining and its Canadian subsidiary Atico Mining a licence to begin exploitation in the area. In the midst of the repression, Mesías was hit by a pellet, which caused him mobility problems and has so far required two operations to reconstruct his face.